{"id":66954,"date":"2021-05-11T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:59:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:59:23","slug":"we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/","title":{"rendered":"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Militants blew up a girl\u2019s high school<\/a> in Kabul over the weekend, killing 68 students. They were just kids \u2014 they died for the \u201ccrime\u201d of trying to get an education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning after my interpreter Janis Shinwary saved my life, I found him eating alone in our outpost\u2019s chow hall. I sat down and asked him why he risked himself to save me? He said, \u201cyou are a guest in my country, I die before you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, you\u2019re a hell of a shot, I\u2019m really glad you\u2019re on our side. Hey, why is that, why are you on our side?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mom would kick my ass if I joined the Taliban.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t the answer I ever expected to hear. \u201cI don\u2019t understand, I thought women didn\u2019t have any power over here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know nothing of Afghans,\u201d he said, looking down at his breakfast of na\u2019an and yogurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right. I don\u2019t. Will you teach me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOk, first lesson, Afghan men can do nothing without the blessing of their mothers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re telling me everyone on the other side of yesterday\u2019s battle had their mom\u2019s permission to be there, to be Taliban?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf their mom is still alive, yes,\u201d he said as he chewed a bite of the na\u2019an.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat makes your mom so much more enlightened than their moms? Why does she forbid you when their moms\u2019 allow them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause she can read and write for herself. She has read the Quran, she knows what the Taliban preach isn\u2019t Islam, it\u2019s bullshit.\u201d He put the na\u2019an down and stared into my eyes, \u201cWhy do you think the Taliban burn down and attack schools for girls? It\u2019s because they fear moms like mine. An Afghanistan filled with moms like mine means their movement dies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afghanistan is collapsing. The Taliban have begun their assault to ensure Afghanistan never becomes filled with moms like his. We have a moral obligation to save as many of our allies as we can before we leave. We cannot abandon them to be slaughtered by the Taliban. If we do so, no one will ever trust us again. We won\u2019t have allies in future wars, and that means soldiers like me will die in greater numbers because they won\u2019t have their Janis\u2019 watching their back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those of us fighting to save these people, we thought we had at least until Sept. 11. We don\u2019t. We may already be almost out of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. forces may be entirely out of Afghanistan by July 4.<\/a> Turkey, which for years has secured the airport in Kabul, has told the U.S. and NATO that its troops may leave as well. If Turkey also leaves, then the airport will likely close and then because there will be no way out of Kabul, the U.S. Embassy will likely shutter.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends of mine briefed the National Security Council last week. They walked away fearful the Biden administration was more concerned about the optics of an evacuation than doing our moral obligation. Which optics are worse: a chaotic evacuation or genocide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1975, 1996, and 1999 we evacuated our Vietnamese, Kurdish, and Kosovar wartime allies, respectively, to Guam where they lived, in safety, while their permanent visa applications were processed. We should do the same now for our Afghan allies, while there\u2019s still time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation in Afghanistan is rapidly failing<\/a>. An increasingly worrying body of reports <\/a>makes it clear that collapse is coming and will happen faster than Washington can respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Association of Wartime Allies<\/a> ran the numbers on an evacuation of our Afghan wartime allies to Guam (with an assumed date of starting today):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a\"
(Association of Wartime Allies)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each passing day we do not evacuate our allies is a hindrance to our efforts to save them and a gift to the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked if the military could mount an evacuation, the commander of CENTCOM said, \u201cif directed to assist with this effort (an evacuation), we could certainly do it.\u201d Military commanders do not say they can do something unless they know they have a plan. We need President Biden to give the order \u2014 execute the plan, evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can save these people. We just need the courage and conviction to do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Zeller is a U.S. Army veteran. He is also co-founder of No One Left Behind, a Truman National Security Project Fellow, and an adjunct fellow at the American Security Project. He is the author of \u201cWatches Without Time\u201d (Just World Books, 2012), which chronicles his experience serving as an embedded combat adviser with the Afghan security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 2008.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":73,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[73,101,22,23,89,26,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4997],"class_list":["post-66954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-disaster","category-home","category-middle-column","category-newsletters","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"R4UAJ76XI5DCHFPP772SIJZ4CY","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nWe must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-11T09:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T12:59:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Zeller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Zeller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-11T09:30:00+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T12:59:23+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 800,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Commentary\",\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Disaster | Advertiser Safety\",\n\t \"Home\",\n\t \"Middle Column\",\n\t \"Newsletters\",\n\t \"Opinion\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies - Navy Times\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-11T09:30:00+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T12:59:23+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/11\\\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Commentary\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/commentary\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"commentary\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies - Navy Times","description":"President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies","og_description":"President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2021-05-11T09:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T12:59:23+00:00","author":"Matt Zeller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Zeller","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies","datePublished":"2021-05-11T09:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T12:59:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/"},"wordCount":800,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Commentary","Daily News Roundup","Disaster | Advertiser Safety","Home","Middle Column","Newsletters","Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/","name":"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-11T09:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T12:59:23+00:00","description":"President Biden must evacuate our Afghan wartime allies to Guam while they await visas, says the author of this commentary.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/05\/11\/we-must-evacuate-our-wartime-afghan-allies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commentary","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/","ad_zone":"commentary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"We must evacuate our wartime Afghan allies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-96203041.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66961,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66954\/revisions\/66961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66954"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=66954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}